Jim Bludso of the Prairie Belle, and Little Breeches

Boston: James R. Osgood, 1871. First edition. Paperback. Very Good Indeed. 7.5" by 5.5". S. Eyting, Jr. An excellent example of the first edition of John Hay's popular poems, written in the Pike County dialect, and illustrated by S. Eyting, Jr. The first edition of this work, bound in the original wraps, and housed in a cloth chemise, and quarter morocco slip case.An early work from John Hay, an American statesman and official who worked as a private secretary and an assistant for Abraham Lincoln, and served as United States Secretary of State under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Illustrated with eight full page woodcuts by Eyting. Collated, complete.Two illustrations include offensive contemporary caricatures of African Americans.With the bookplate of John Needees Chester to the front free endpaper.The first poem is about "Jim Bludso", a boatman who is "no saint" and has one wife in Mississippi and another in Illinois. However, Bludso sacrifices his own life so that the passengers on his burning boat survive. In "Little Breeches", a team of horses take fright and carry a small child into a blizzard. In the publisher's original paper wraps, housed in a cloth chemise, and quarter morocco slip case. Wraps uncommonly bright. Small loss of paper to back strip tail, with minor mark to head of fore edge of front wrap. Bookplate to front free endpaper. Slip case and chemise in exceptional condition. Internally, firmly bound. Pages clean and bright. Very Good Indeed